At this late stage
If the shoe fits
Buy it.
For comfort is harder to find
And a little jig
Can jar the memory
To green fields and pop flies
And star flecks of first love.
Maybe even buy a second pair
(the first you might yet outwear)
So you won’t lose pace
And become trampled
In the long procession
To that promised playground.
But maybe not.
Double vision is problematic
And the next dance could be
A different thing.
This is a journey of no return
And no one knows for certain
The mood of the Master
Behind the curtain.
These invisible strings
Won’t hold forever
And life in terms of feet
We cannot measure.
***
Pete Howard works as an English teacher, a musician, a writer, and a house painter.
